In July,Ramesh “Sunny” Balwaniwas convicted of 12 counts of fraud for his role in Theranos, the Silicon Valley blood testing company that made false claims about its blood testing products. On Wednesday, in a San Jose, Calif., federal courtroom Balwani was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for his crimes, multiple outlets report.
“They misled investors, they misled patients,“U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila stated during the 58-year-old Balwani’s sentencing,NBC Newsreports.
In a statement to CNN, Jeffrey Coopersmith,Balwani’s attorney, said, “We are disappointed with the outcome. We respectfully disagree and plan to appeal.”
In mid-November,Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos and Balwani’s ex-girlfriend, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for her actions with Theranos.
Theranos was once valued at about $9 billion, and Holmes was named one ofForbes' richest women in America.
Balwani helped Holmes build and eventually run the company, working as an informal adviser in her young startup days. The couple dated for 10 years and Balwani eventually joined Theranos in a formal capacity, working as its president and COO, though the duo reportedly didn’t advertise their romantic relationship around the office.
Sunny Balwani leaving court in January 2019.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Theranos' executives made false claims that the company’s technology could perform hundreds of medical tests with only a few drops of a patient’s blood. These flashy statements attracted major financial investors like Walgreens and Safeway.
But Theranos began to fall apart after a damning expose was published in theWall Street Journalin March 2015.
Elizabeth Holmes.David Orrell/CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
During her trial, defense attorneys for the 38-year-old Holmes tried to portray her as naïve, saying she didn’t mean to defraud the company’s investors.
Holmes testified in her own defense, saying her judgment was clouded at the times in question because of the alleged sexual, psychological and emotional abuse she endured during her relationship with Balwani. Balwani has denied the claims.
source: people.com
